1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrophoretic apparatus/process for fractionating a solution containing proteins, for the purpose of separating at least two groups of substances dissolved therein, and, more especially, relates to apparatus/process for fractionation by electrophoresis, under the influence of an electric field.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Electrophoresis is known to this art, e.g., for use in the laboratory to fractionate a solution and obtain liquid fractions enriched in substances present in the initial solution; the main advantage of this type of process is that it preserves the specific properties of the fractionated substances without denaturing them, and also that it entails little consumption of energy. Particularly compare, for example, French Pat. No. 2,131,859, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,801,962, 2,878,178, 3,989,613 and British Pat. No. 936,805 as representative of a variety of electrophoresis processes/electrophoretic apparatus.
However, these prior art devices/processes only enable relatively mediocre yields to be obtained, very long operating times frequently being needed to obtain a given degree of fractionation.
Thus, in practice, the known devices mentioned above do not enable full use to be made of the advantages provided by electrophoresis processes (low energy consumption, lack of denaturation of the fractionated substances), due to the inherent defects in each of these devices, which preclude their use industrially. Furthermore, with most of the known fractionating devices, it is necessary to carry out a prior preparation of the initial solution, which has generally to be diluted and dialyzed to adjust its pH in order that efficient fractionation may be accomplished. These dialysis procedures are long and awkward, and are the source of bacterial contamination of the solutions.
A substantial improvement in these devices for fractionation by electrophoresis was achieved by the apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,967. However, this apparatus, as a result of the design of its fractionating chambers (C.sub.1, C.sub.2, etc.), each fabricated from two components (15 and 16), proved complicated to produce, and did not enable fractionations to be carried out leading, for example, to an enriched fraction containing more than 74% of gamma-globulins relative to the content of this component in the bovine serum introduced into the apparatus, unless feed rates less than or equal to 95 ml/h were used.